GBBR's user reviews (Discussion, what am your best)

I Armour I

This thread is designed to gather all subjective thoughts on GBBR's across all companies/platforms as AEG talk is alot more plentiful:

Rules:
1. No AEG's, springers and pistols. SMG's are allowed
2. If you are inexperienced, don't claim that *this gun* or *my gun* am best 4evz.
3. Comparatives to be used i.e. "I picked this over others because.. "
4. Don't flames others' choices
5. Follow the format outside of the discussion elements

I will get the ball rolling:

Company: Tokyo Marui
GBB type: MP7
Build material: ABS & Metal
Quality: 10/10
Performance: Compared to competitors & other guns of equal size, it has higher accuracy and range (even comparable to higher fps, longer barrel rifles.
Reason for choosing: It had a buzz around it and reviews had led me down this way along with the fact that I have very high expectations from TM as their products have done nothing but satisfy and surprise me with their performance, quality and in my opinion out of box performance.

Finals comments: Easily the most fun GBB I have fired to date, one of the most accurate of its size out of the box and only down side for me is the cost of magazines & suitability to outdoors.
Would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, high performance, realistic CQB GBBR
Any questions on the above throw em up.

Would appreciate as much contribution as possible and my own questions to be answered: (all 6 are separate Q's)

Comparatively speaking, in your experience, which GBBR's have the following out of the box:
1. Longest effective range (allowance for bb weight, and hop)
2. Tightest groupings/ accuracy at tested range
3. Most simulated realism
4. Least temperamental
5. Best performing during winter (i.e. gas consumption/ cool down)
6. Give the most felt recoil


Ok so toss up your experiences and if need be a comparative of the pros of one vs another e.g. WE's recoil but KWA or KJW accuracy/etc.. on X model type (AK, M4 etc.)

Lemming

Company: AGM
GBB type: M4 (with RIS front-end; 062 model)
Build material: ABS & Metal
Quality: 5/10

Performance: Not great out of the box. I've not had much chance to skirmish it before I pulled it apart so I can't really compare it to other models with any great accuracy.

Reason for choosing: I paid absolute pennies for it, as another boardsie ordered a bulk order of AGM m4s. I wanted something cheap to play about with, tinker with, and pull apart without being too disappointed if I couldn't put it back together again.

Finals comments: I gave this a 5/10 because as a base platform it has a lot of potential; that it is cheap removes some of the fear factor of "do I pull this apart?". If I had paid more than I did for it, it'd be a 3/10. It requires a lot of work out of the box to get up to scratch - not all of it requires spending large sums of money, but it does need work. The stock mag O-ring failed pretty quickly, so anyone wanting to use one of these will need to invest in higher quality third-party magazines.

For someone wanting an easy life, this is not the rifle for them.

edit: This GBBR uses the WA-platform gas system.

On a related note: here's a review of some Prowin 20-round m16 magazines, and here's the discussion thread

Lemming

Company: Marushin
GBB type: M1 Garand (8mm)
Build material: Wood (walnut) & metal
Quality: 8/10

Original review

Performance: This rifle makes you grin. Being 8mm means that out of the box, with the heaver weight ammo you wont get as much range; nor will you get as much firepower out of it since each magazine holds 8 rounds. Gas consumption is reasonable but dependent on the weather of course, and no CO2 options are available. I have however pulled off some evil shots with it on fast moving targets at range, so accuracy is pretty good, owing in part to the use of 8mm BBs ('standard' weight is .34g)

Reason for choosing: It's an M1 Garand; it's 8mm; the magazine ejects with a "PING" when empty, and I have had people call hits without being hit simply from the intimidating noise of the bolt racking alone :pac:

In short, it's fun.

Finals comments: This gun is not cheap all things considered. The biggest problem I have found is sourcing magazines due Marushin's annoying habit of producing stuff in batches and then not running another batch for ages. It is very much a rifle that requires you to think about how to use it due to the limited magazine size; going toe-to-toe with an m4 with hi-cap is giving yourself a notable disadvantage - but it can be done and done well if you do it right.

8mm for this rifle feels right; it's a battle rifle, so none of this 6mm malarky that you find with assault rifles.

T.C.

Good idea for a thread. I love my GBBRs, but don't get out enough to test them all. I'll start with 2 and come back later as I get to road-test my collection a bit more.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Company: HFC
Model: Mac-11 (copy of KSC NS1/pre-system 7 Mac-11)
Build materials: Plastic outers, metal innards, and metal mags

Performance: Perfectly fine at short ranges of CQB, as accurate as an average pistol, but much more a "spray and pray" machine - blistering rate of fire supports this :-)

Reason for choosing: Came up as a good deal on redwolf, so I jumped. I got lucky and sourced the now rare mags for it in a local shop's closing down sale.

Good points:
- ideal for CQB - everybody gets their head down when they hear it
- 50-round mag capacity is useful, even on burst-auto
- looks cool

bad points:
- busted now (hopefully I've bought the right parts to fix it from evike.com), but prior to that very reliable. (worked for 2 airsofters on various occasions)
- next to impossible now to find parts/mags for anything pre-system 7
- as with most long gas mags, PITA to refill.

Final Comments - lots of fun for CQB, when it worked. Cheap and cheerful with it.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Company: WE
Model: G99C (G36C)
Build materials: plastic everywhere you'd expect for the real one, and metal where it's supposed to be.

Performance: Nicely accurate out of the box, though admittedly I haven't taken to any outdoor sites yet. Blowback is solid and reliable, adds to the realism. All bits work.

Reason for choosing: I had attempted to make an AGM M4, like Lemming's one above, into a skirmishable machine and failed. I wanted something with a good rep, and suitably different from any of AEGs (mostly M4s). This came up on a foreign website for a great price including shipping so I went for it.

Good points:
- Original awesome design, which I like
- Nice blowback kick
- Small foregrip, seeing as it doesn't have to allow for a battery
- Good weight and heft, suits me for CQB (which is mostly what I do these days)
- Good accuracy at the short ranges I've tested.

Bad points:
- Without an NPAS it chronos over on green gas. I'd previously bought a couple of cans of 144, so this hasn't been a big issue. It's on my to-do list though..
- Magazines are a challenging 45 euro a pop (and not much cheaper when sourced from abroad), but at least they can be source locally, and don't weigh as much as the standard WA-style M4 mags.
- .. and only hold 30 rounds, which aren't the easiest to reload with a standard speedloader.

Final Comments: feels and looks awesome with a solid blowback. I now have 4 mags but still tend to do most of my battles in single-shot mode, not a huge trade-off for CQB. Magazine reloading is still the biggest fiddle, but it's getting easier.

(@I Armour I: I included the Mac-11, because you included the MP7 ... surely a similar class of machine??)

I Armour I

Some excellent reviews there lads I like em.
Would also like to gather some small info:
Whether you test fired, seen it live/on video, or own/owned it at some point; stick up a model/company gbbr you would like, and why. No format necessary.

Would love the Swiss arms protector... (mini Uzi)
Why? It's co2, has some fierce blowback and looks the business. Opinions? (if applicable)

CpcRc

Hope it's not too off topic. But might anyone who had an agm m4 be able to specify what needed to be fixed on the gbbr itself. So far people have said it's a lot of work but not listed what was done. If I ever took up a project like it, I'd like to know what needs improving. Would help planning and I would know if it costs more than getting a WE or something. Also I'd probably be more interested in semi auto.

And regarding the uzi, I'm not sure if it's the same model, I talked to an owner of a co2 uzi and they said 1.5 mags to a co2 bulb. Very fun to shot, but found that a little low for a co2. I think it was down to all metal construction also and maybe a steel slide which made gas economy not the best.

I Armour I

CpcRc wrote: »

Hope it's not too off topic. But might anyone who had an agm m4 be able to specify what needed to be fixed on the gbbr itself. So far people have said it's a lot of work but not listed what was done. If I ever took up a project like it, I'd like to know what needs improving. Would help planning and I would know if it costs more than getting a WE or something. Also I'd probably be more interested in semi auto.

And regarding the uzi, I'm not sure if it's the same model, I talked to an owner of a co2 uzi and they said 1.5 mags to a co2 bulb. Very fun to shot, but found that a little low for a co2. I think it was down to all metal construction also and maybe a steel slide which made gas economy not the best.

As it is discussion, it is perfectly in topice questions are welcome, although I cannot help you this department.
Thank you for the input man! Would very much want to test fire one of these.

bluestripe93

CpcRc wrote: »

Hope it's not too off topic. But might anyone who had an agm m4 be able to specify what needed to be fixed on the gbbr itself. So far people have said it's a lot of work but not listed what was done. If I ever took up a project like it, I'd like to know what needs improving. Would help planning and I would know if it costs more than getting a WE or something. Also I'd probably be more interested in semi auto.

And regarding the uzi, I'm not sure if it's the same model, I talked to an owner of a co2 uzi and they said 1.5 mags to a co2 bulb. Very fun to shot, but found that a little low for a co2. I think it was down to all metal construction also and maybe a steel slide which made gas economy not the best.

I have the Western Arms and AGM GBB M4s, here is how to upgrade it to get it working a bit better

Western Arms, AGM G&P WOC (western arms official copy) (pre-built ones usually have steel internals, challenge kit (sometimes called WOK)and WOC X come with aluminium ones) are all based on the same WA system so it should work for all of them, the WE M4 is different so it wont work

First few things to change would be to get the G&P negative pressure nozzle, its expensive but its the only one that works properly
http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/gandp-loading-nozzle-set-for-wa-m4-negative-pressure.html#.Uqn3fvS0cQs

Change the hop up chamber and inner barrel, either get a GBB M4 barrel and hop up chamber like the G&P type or the easiest way to do it is get one that lets you use an AEG inner barrel, either Prime, Iron Airsoft or 5KU, I have the Iron Airsoft one and an AEG barrel in mine, I have the 5KU one too but it has to be modded to work properly (8mm drill bit mod)
http://gasguns.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=4288&start=0

It might be hard to find the IA one
http://www.ebairsoft.com/iron-airsoft-version-1004g-p-6578.html

Get some different mags (Gas or Co2) either Prowin, G&P, GHK, or whatever you want

Steel internals (Trigger, Sear, Hammer, Bolt Catch),
The internals will work for a while but will break so replace them when you can, either with good ones like G&P or if you want to do it cheaply/if one of the parts breaks and you cant get G&P yet, the cheaper AABB or 5KU steel parts are better than the standard parts and will work but sometimes aren't compatible with each other,

http://www.ebairsoft.com/aabb-steel-trigger-p-3275.html
http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/gandp-wa-m4-steel-trigger-for-wa-m4-series.html#.Uqn7MvS0cQs

Then look at changing the bolt carrier, lighter aluminium one for gas efficiency or a heavier steel one for more recoil

Thats the basics but go on http://www.gasguns.info/forum/ for more info

I did the above to my AGM and then bought a different receiver/body and rebuilt the whole thing so nothing AGM was left but that was more expensive

CpcRc

Thanks. That's the kind of list I was looking for. Are any of the more expensive brands ok out of the box? WA or WE?

bluestripe93

It depends on how much you have to spend and if you want an M4 or a different type of gun, the best out of the box ones to look at would prob be the WE G39 or the GHK G5.

If you want to go with the WA system don't get an original Western Arms with the plastic body, King Arms, KJW, G&P are all ok, maybe get a used AGM on adverts and see if you like it.
I don't know much about the WE ones but you might be able to get a used M4 or scar on adverts, then they have open bolt or closed bolt ones, someone else who knows more about that should post about the differences,

WA would have more choice of manufacturer, mags and spare parts, but WE has more choice of guns (not just M4's)

If you have loads to spend have a look at the Viper and Inokatsu ones, based on the WA system, way more realistic and real parts can be used with them (as in real upper receivers),
http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/viper-tech-m4a1-ras-gbb-rifle-steel-version.html#.UqoHefS0cQs

But if you are serious about buying one make a thread on gasguns for more info.

Lemming

bluestripe93 wrote: »

If you have loads to spend have a look at the Viper and Inokatsu ones, based on the WA system, way more realistic and real parts can be used with them (as in real upper receivers),
http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/viper-tech-m4a1-ras-gbb-rifle-steel-version.html#.UqoHefS0cQs

As I understand it, viper-tech were contracted by Inokatsu to produce their M16 & XM177 line of rifles, but due to some internal dispute between Inokatsu and Cybergun, Viper-tech are selling themselves.

CpcRc

I would like a M4 and it would be used for plinking or the odd cqb or milsim game where it would be more fun to game than an aeg.
I wouldn't be looking to spend too much but if getting a better out of box one saves a lot of money and time I might go for that.
I don't mind fixing things up, but there should be a point to it other than sticking it out because you started.
I also wouldn't be too big on external upgrades. Just want a fun m4 that feels more realistic than an aeg and shoots reliably.

Is the agm still manufactured? I would be worried that a second hand one would be very old by now.

Edit: Noticed some of the g&g blowbacks, but I'm not sure if people thought they were very good

Lemming

On reflection - I think that this entire thread belongs in the Airsoft Questions section - there are as many questions as reviews going on here. What I think is needded; is a thread (or several if broken down by category) that are stickied, and updated containing links to all of the reviews made. People can then be free to ask as many questions as they want in the airsoft questions forum.

This is just going to get messy as people attempt to sift through the questions seperate from the reviews

cfuserkildare

Hey folks,

Without a doubt the best GBB rifle I have ever owned and used must be the WE L85a2.

Had Scars, (good but heavy) had M4s, ( AEGs are much better and more reliable ) Hate TM Gassers.

WE L85 actually feels lighter than AEG Versions, Fires the same rate as a real steel, and is as accurate as most airsoft sniper rifles ( due to 20 inch barrel ) whilst still as small as an M4 (14.5 Inch Barrel )

Only rifle I had that was near the WE L85 for accuracy was the Ares / Star L86a2 support rifle ( 620mm barrel )

Hope this helps somebody.